Customer Reviews

Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series)

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I was surprised to see a volume on G.K. Chesterton in the Modern Spiritual Masters series from Orbis book. I've thought of GKC as a literary figure and as an apologist, but not a spiritual master. After reading the book, I am not ready to call GKC a "spiritual master" but I have a deeper appreciation of this man's passion for God and clear thinking.

The editor of the volume, William Griffin, sorted through GKC's vast amount of writing and selected 175 pages of text. Many of the texts are drawn from GKC's works Orthodoxy and Heretics. The volume concludes with a transcript of the famous debate with George Bernard Shaw about Distributism (an economic theory which GKC promoted). None of Chesterton's poetry or fiction is included in this anthology.

In his helpful, and at times funny, introduction, Griffin points out 3 characteristics of GKC's life and writings indicating the key characteristics of his spirituality. The notes preceding each selection highlight how each of these characteristics is present in the passage. The first two charateristics of "Paradoxy" and "Hilarity" are familiar to anyone who has read GKC before. GKC is a master of paradox and often uses parodox to point to mystery and absurdity. "Hilarity" is more difficult to pin down and depends on your sense of humor. I enjoy GKC's wit but know that it is not to everyone's taste. "Humility" is the third characteristic pointed out. It is not a virtue I would have associated with GKC. This anthology didn't convince me. While GKC is humble, in the sense of being rooted in reality, his intellectual flights are hard to reconcile with the earthiness I associate with humility. His thought always seems a little "airy" to me.

The writings are classified into seven sections which are not clearly defined but go under the titles:
"Habits of the Heart"
"Habits of Mind"
"Habits of Soul"
"Habits of Observance"
"Habits of Discernment"
"Habits of Belief"
"Habits of Debate"

Overall, the book is worth reading. If you like GKC already you will have a chance to appreciate him anew. If you don't know GKC you will get a nice taste of his non-fiction work. If you don't like GKC you will find more of what you don't like.

I'll admit it. I've never cared for Chesterton. He reminds me too much of another author who sets my teeth on edge: Oscar Wilde. Both of them strike me as striving too hard to be clever and not hard enough to be wise. They reach for the bon mot and neglect the argument. Sometimes the cleverness comes off, but often it doesn't--witness Chesterton's execrable little books on Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas, or his tedious Father Brown stories.

Another reason I dislike Chesterton is that he's so pugilistic. He writes with a hammer. Everything he disagrees with is "mad," "crazy," "humbug," "bosh." His arguments, when you can find one, have no finesse and acknowledge little complexity or ambiguity in the world. His apologetics overwhelm rather than convince.

Still, because so many people I admire admire him (C.S. Lewis, for one), I periodically go back to Chesterton, hoping that I'll find him more palatable. That's why I was happy to read William Griffin's collection of his writings. Chesterton, after all, wrote so much. Perhaps, I thought, I'd simply been dipping into the bad pieces, and need the expert guidance of a Chesterton authority.

But, alas. The selections that Griffin deems "essential writings" here are everything I've come to expect from Chesterton: bombastic and sometimes bullying one-liners, and the occasional insight that's usually spoiled either by not being explored fully enough or being submerged in verbal cleverness. Moreover, Mr. Griffin's Introduction to the collection tends to mimic Chesterton in both tone and content. It tries for a sardonic style, but only succeeds in irritating. Moreover, I found the discussion of paradox and hilarity, and the attempt to conclude that Chesterton's cleverness hid a deep spirituality, alternately incomprehensible and implausible.

I realize that my dislike of Chesterton isn't a legitimate reason for giving Mr. Griffin's anthology a poor rating. But my dislike of sloppy writing and poor thinking is. Had the Introduction to the collection been more cogent and less clever, perhaps I'd have finally discovered in Chesterton what I've been unable to find thus far.